Just like during the Winter Holiday Months, the IT world also seems to slow down during the month of July. With a little extra time during this Summer Break to reflect, I thought it would be a great opportunity to look back on the last six months and share some of the badges and recognitions I earned along the way. Rather than highlighting them individually throughout the year, this post brings them together in one place. Although, I did write a separate post for passing the New SQL AI Developer Associate Certification.

Platinum IP Contributor Award

I’m honored to receive this recognition, which I’ve been fortunate to earn each half-year over the past three years. This was earned through ongoing contributions to several SQL Server and Azure SQL workshops. My role has included maintaining, enhancing, and modernizing workshop content, labs, and delivery guidance, including updates aligned with SQL Server 2025. While my new Worldwide Solution Lead role may affect future eligibility, I’m proud of the impact these workshops continue to have on customers, trainers, and the broader Microsoft delivery community.

Top Marks Gold Award Winner

During Microsoft’s second half of fiscal year 2026, I again earned the Proactive Delivery Gold Top Marks Award. The number of gold award recipients worldwide grew from 12 in FY26 H1 to 35 in FY26 H2. But I was one of the five to achieve Gold Top Marks recognition in both halves of the fiscal year. This award is based entirely on direct customer feedback and recognizes consistently exceptional customer experiences across multiple surveyed deliveries. For FY26, I finished the year with a 92% Very Satisfied (VSAT) score and 0% Dissatisfied (DSAT) score.

Delivery Excellence Accelerator Award

The FY26 Delivery Excellence Accelerator Award recognized my efforts to improve delivery quality and customer satisfaction. I helped modernize workshops and deliver SQL Server 2025 content updates. I also contributed to trainer enablement programs and CPE improvement initiatives. These efforts helped scale best practices across customers and fellow Cloud Solution Architects. The award recognizes individuals who increase customer value through delivery excellence and innovation. It also honors those who improve customer experiences and help others succeed.

I was honored to also receive a second FY26 Delivery Excellence Accelerator Award. This was as part of the Scoping: Back to Basics Training Team. This award recognizes teams that improve customer value, delivery quality, and customer satisfaction. Our team created training to strengthen scoping skills across the Global Delivery community. The training helped Cloud Solution Architects improve delivery consistency and align customer expectations. We shared practical guidance, proven best practices, and reusable training materials. These efforts helped scale delivery excellence and support better customer experiences across Microsoft.

VSAT Acceleration CX Champion

One of the things I enjoy most about my role is helping customers succeed. The VSAT Acceleration Customer Experience Champion badge recognizes the effort to create positive customer experiences and continually improve the quality of every engagement. Over the years, I’ve learned that great customer satisfaction scores don’t come from a single event. They come from preparation, listening, adapting, and genuinely caring about the customer’s outcome. This badge reflects that mindset and reinforces why I continue to focus on delivering the best experience possible for every customer. When people ask me what is one of my secrets to excellent deliveries, I respond; “I don’t teach workshops, I teach people”.

Skillable 1000 Students Badge

This badge recognizes a significant milestone in my training career: reaching 1,000 students through Microsoft-delivered training programs. While the number itself is exciting, it represents only a portion of my overall teaching journey. The count reflects students I have taught since joining Microsoft and does not include the more than 10,000 students I trained during my 17 years at New Horizons Learning Centers. In fact, I was fortunate to work with the early beta version of what would later become Skillable, then known as Learn on Demand Systems, shortly before its introduction in 2014. Looking back, this badge is less about the number and more about the opportunity to help thousands of IT professionals build new skills, earn certifications, and advance their careers over the course of more than two decades of technical training and community engagement.

AI Skills Fest 2026

This training badge was earned by participating in Microsoft’s AI Skills Fest and completing an AI learning path focused on building practical AI skills. I enjoyed the opportunity to explore new AI tools, discover real-world use cases, and learn more about how AI can help improve productivity and solve everyday challenges. Technology is always changing, and AI is moving especially fast, so events like this are a great way to stay curious, keep learning, and pick up skills that can be applied both professionally and personally.

Tech Connect Frontier Hack

I earned this badge by participating in the Tech Connect Frontier Hack, a hands-on event focused on building and exploring agentic AI solutions. The experience provided an opportunity to work with technologies such as Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry while learning how AI agents can reason, route requests, and work together to solve real-world problems. For me, the badge represents a commitment to staying current with Microsoft’s latest AI innovations and gaining practical experience with the technologies that are shaping the future of intelligent applications. Having said that, I have a long way to go on my AI Agent journey. Over the next few months, I plan on focusing my attention on The Microsoft IQ Series to accelerate my learning path.

100% Attainment Award

The 2026 100% Attainment Award recognizes employees who meet or exceed their annual business goals. For me, this award reflects a year focused on customer success, workshop modernization, community engagement, and field enablement. It also recognizes the value of collaboration, consistent execution, and helping others achieve successful outcomes. Earning this award reinforces that sustained effort and teamwork can drive meaningful results for customers, colleagues, and the business.

Conclusion

Looking back, it’s hard to believe how much was packed into a single year, let alone six months. FY27 brings a new role, new challenges, and new prospects to build on the success of FY26. At the same time, new responsibilities bring new opportunities to make an impact. I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead and to seeing what new accomplishments the next chapter will bring.